BYU jumped all over Colorado in a Big 12-on-Big 12 bout in the Alamo Bowl on Saturday night. The Cougars held CU scoreless in the first half, picked off quarterback Shedeur Sanders twice, and walked away with a resounding 36-14 victory.
The win was BYU’s 11th of the season and gave coach Kalani Sitake his fifth bowl win in 7 tries.
For Colorado, it brought about a disappointing end to the collegiate careers of Sanders and Heisman Trophy winner Travis Hunter. Sanders completed 16 of his 23 passes for 208 yards and 2 touchdowns, but he was picked off twice in the game and ended the evening with a towel draped over his head on the sidelines. Sanders appeared to pick up a lower-leg injury in the second half but stayed in the game until the closing minutes. Hunter broke loose for a 43-yard touchdown in the third quarter and he caught a 58-yard pass in the second quarter, but that was it for him in terms of impact plays on the evening.
BYU held Colorado without a point on its first 6 drives. The Buffs turned it over on downs to begin the game, missed a second-quarter field goal, and watched helplessly as BYU built a 20-0 halftime lead. The Cougars’ offense didn’t necessarily light up the box score, but BYU completely dominated field position.
Four of BYU’s 11 drives began on Colorado’s side of the 50. The average starting point for every drive was the BYU 45. The Cougars’ first scoring drive of the game started from their 48. The next drive gained just 8 yards in 7 plays, but it began at the CU 41 and ended with a field goal. BYU only produced 3 offensive touchdowns in the game, and none of those possessions needed to go more than 55 yards to reach paydirt.
Special teams swung decidedly in BYU’s favor. The Cougars punted only once all night, but got 44 yards from that boot. Kicker Will Ferrin made all 3 of his field goal tries. With the Cougs holding just a 10-point lead late in the second quarter, Parker Kingston returned a punt 64 yards for a touchdown to ensure BYU would take all the momentum into the locker room at the half.
BYU quarterback Jake Retzlaff finished the game with 151 yards on 12-of-21 passing. He threw 2 picks and didn’t register a touchdown through the air. All 3 offensive touchdowns came from the rushing attack, which was led by 93 yards from LJ Martin.
The Cougars limited Colorado to 210 yards of offense. Sanders was sacked 4 times and the ground game finished with just 2 net yards on 19 carries. Remove the yardage lost to sacks and Colorado still only produced 53 rushing yards on 3.5 per carry in the game.
Hunter also made 4 tackles on defense.
Colorado (9-4) won its final game of the regular season 52-0 but was shut out of the Big 12 Championship Game because of a tiebreaker. The desire to end the season the right way certainly served as motivation for both Hunter and Sanders during bowl prep. Even though the NFL beckons, the Buffs’ 2 stars were looking to end their collegiate careers with a bit more oomph.
Instead, Colorado’s best season since 2016 ended with a bit of a dud. Now, the 2 stars will turn their attention to the 2025 NFL Draft, where they are both expected to be top-10 selections.
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